Bike Thomson

Elite 25.4 Stems

David — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:36:38 +0000

It is more fun to talk about new products than discontinuing parts but that is the subject today. After 11 years we are stopping manufacturing and sale of the Elite 25.4 stems at the end of the year. The reality is that bikes have been sold with 31.8 bars since about 2004. Not only that but a new standard, 35mm bar with 31.8 steerer is being pushed now. This new standard is called “overdrive” by some companies. We need to be ready for the new standard and what may well be the slow move away from 31.8 bars. Fixie riders created a burst in demand for 26.0 and 25.4 stems but companies have reacted and there are now 31.8 fixie bars available. Elite X4, Elite X2, BMX and Direct Mount stems are still being produced and will be for a long time. This only affects the 25.4 handlebar diameter Elite stem.

Dress Up Kits

David — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:05:18 +0000

New pictures of the dress up kits! Thank you Cara Huxley from i-ride.co.uk.

That Time of Year

David — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:12:13 +0000

I came to work early today, a rare occurrence for sure. It is dark in the mornings now. As I left my apartment I could see the school bus, but did not see the 3 kids in dark clothes walking to it until I was pretty close. Then as I left the neighborhhod a lady was out jogging and was invisible until I was 30 feet away. Finally as I approached the office a commuter cyclist appeared out of the fog invisible except for the reflectors on his wheels.

It is time to break out the reflective clothes and red flashy lights people. Don’t be invisible, I want all of you to make it through Fall and Winter!!!

Steel Frames

admin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:47:35 +0000

To avoid seatposts getting stuck in steel frames please note the following:

1. When new and then once yearly, apply frame saver to the inside of a steel frame.

2. Remove, clean and lightly regrease seatpost every 90 days. 30 days if you ride in snow/road salt.

Collar Installation

admin — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:37:34 +0000

Our seat post collar uses a bolt with a spherical seat and matching washer, just like our seat posts. If you install the washer upside sown by mistake the collar will squeak badly, this will likely lead to over-tightening in attempt to kill the squeak. It also makes it impossible to set the torque correctly as the washer is collapsing under the bolt head as you tighten. This will cause the collar to fail as it will get “stretched” to the point of failure. Do not try to fix a squeak with torque, diagnose the problem.

One other note. Make sure the collar fully seats on the top of the seat tube. If the collar is touching the top tube/seat tube junction and you can feel a gap between the top of the seat tube and the inside of the beauty ring on the collar, that may lead to squeaking, slipping or shorter collar life.

Bike Wash

admin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:22:59 +0000

Do not use high pH cleaners on aluminum bicycle parts. Simple Green is a popular example of a high pH cleaner but there are others. If you have used a high pH cleaner thoroughly rinse your bike with water. Several bike brands such as Finish Line and Pro Gold make bike wash that is safe for both aluminum and carbon parts. Soap and water works as well. High pH cleaners are corrosive to aluminum and corrosion can greatly shorten the life of your components. If you do not know the pH of the cleaner you are using, don’t use it.

Feats of Strength

admin — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:14:34 +0000

Seatpost crushed in work stand is something we used to see once every 90 days or so. Lately we are seeing posts crushed in workstands on a weekly basis. A few obvious points:

It takes and immense amount of force to crush a seatpost in a workstand.
That’s not a warranty item.
If you were to apply the same force to your frame, it would also be crushed (ruined).

If you use a workstand with a lever, two fingers is all you need to close the bike into the stand.

I can only imagine this happens pulling a stubborn bottom bracket. If so use penetrating oil, at Thomson we like Kroil but your local hardware or auto parts store has many good choices.

Hard to Find Parts

admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:08:52 +0000

We have received a lot of questions about part availability lately. Let me try to cover the reasons parts might appear hard to obtain.

First, Sales Channel. Thomson sells to wholesale distributors, these distributors sell to bike shops who sell to you. Online stores are bike shops for this discussion. In the US all bike shops are within 2 days ground shipping from one of our distributors, many are only one day away. International distribution is similar. We have over 30 distributors serving countries around the world.

Counting both colors Black and Silver we have 192+ parts. It is hard for a shop to guess what to keep in stock. 27.2, 30.9 and 31.6 posts are generally available but with straight and setback even that can be iffy. Stems are tricky to inventory as well as there are just a lot of sizes. If your shop does not have the exact size you want they can order it and have it within days. This includes all the small parts, bolts, clamps, etc. You do want to be sure of sizing before you order as returning an installed item is usually not possible.

There are a few exceptions. Stems this year have been in short supply as we have had a series of random break downs with the machine that does the bulk of the stem manufacturing. Our inventory levels have been low on stems all year. We will be caught up by late September.

We have also advertised several new products and been wrong about release dates. Trying to get a part we have not shipped yet never goes well. We are doing our best to be better about new product ship dates to avoid confusion.

If you or your shop has a question we are available to help anytime.

Stem Angles

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:02:33 +0000

We get asked about stem angles a lot. Lately people want to know why our Mountain Stems are 0 degrees and 10 degrees and not 7 or 6 degrees. There also seems to be the belief that stem angle changes the geometry of the bike. That is not entirely true. Stem angle changes your hand position and affects how much leverage you have over the steerer tube, handlebar width does the same thing. The height of your hands can minimally affect center of gravity as well. The geometry of the bike is fixed by the frame and fork. As to our angles, bikes come with stems installed by the manufacturer, they are hoping to have one stem rise option that will work for most people so 6 to 7 degrees flipped up or down is a good compromise. We make two angle options, so they can be more tailored to what we hear from high performance riders.

Changing Stem Bolts

admin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:31:09 +0000

Two pictures of bolts we will start using as of July 9th for black and early August for silver.

A few reasons:

1. We think they look nicer.
2. Serrations have been removed to lessen corrosion.
3. Most importantly, the Allen socket has been dropped from 4 to 3mm. This will act as a torque limiter as in most cases you cannot get the bolts tighter than 55 inch pounds. The 4mm socket bolts could get as high as 150 inch pounds. This should help riders without torque wrenches avoid damage to stem, bar and steerer.